


Third Times the Charm, AKA '"I told you so."

by TheLoggerKing365



Category: Luigi's Mansion (Video Games), Super Mario & Related Fandoms, Super Mario Bros. (Video Games)
Genre: Again, Attempted Fluff, Before I throw it into a dumpster fire, Cause this is going to be slow cooking int the crock pot for the next month..., Eventual Romance, F/M, Gen, How do I tag?, How do ya'll like your romance?, Meh, Multi, No Beta, Reader is an Idiot, Reader is from Earth, Reader-Insert, Why Did I Write This?, and a vacation, but to make this easier for me I am writing them as a girl, everyone is welcome, honestly everyone here needs a nap, luigi needs a nap, mario in a painting, may add more tags latter, may change a lot latter, may change relationships latter, maybe romance? maybe, not street smart, put that down, read can be either a boy or a girl, reader does a thing, reader is book smart, reader may swear, slow burn?, steward what are you doing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-21
Updated: 2020-07-04
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:20:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,227
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24284263
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheLoggerKing365/pseuds/TheLoggerKing365
Summary: I'm a year late but I finished the game and wanted to write so HERE YA GO!--------It's all fun and games till the game is no longer a game. But hey, you might have been stuck here for, maybe, a few years and have proven your not as incompetent as a certain turtle thinks you are. You even got to meet the red and green duo themselves! But even heroes need a vacation, and so do you, how convenient it is that Luigi gets a letter in the mail for a free vacation for his friends and family? Enough for red flags to go off in both Luigi's and your head, that's for sure, but hey if Mario says 'It's going to be fine, bro;' then surely it won't come back to bite you in the butt later, right? Right??... It comes back to bite you in the butt....
Relationships: Not Yet Decided, Other Relationship Tags to Be Added
Comments: 7
Kudos: 25





	1. Prologue; Vacation for Seven

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! First time poster on this site, so yeah...  
> I am always open for constructive criticism but I won't tolerate ya'll being rude just to be rude. It's a fan fic, as in if you don't like what a fan makes then why are you here? Anyway thank you for reading and I am sorry for this abomination. Somethings may be altered slightly to fit the story, but hopefully nothing to bad. Also the reader will be nicknamed to Moony when named, if you don't like that nickname then feel free to change it and the story is written in the Second point of view to give as much character lenience for how you want to look, it should not effect the story to much but let me know if something is incorrect as I would surely appreciate it.
> 
> -Side note; I will be using google translate for a word or two so I am sorry in advance if it is wrong.

Today would have been a great day, no, a perfect day. It was not too hot or too cold, and white puffy clouds dotted the bright blue sky. The key word with that sentence there is **Would**. But no, instead you were stuck in this stupid pink bus with Toad as the driver. The reason you were in this bus was because your dear friend had received an invitation to a five-star hotel for free and could bring his friends and family with him. Normally no sane person would turn down free stuff but there is nothing sane here in the Mushroom Kingdom, what with the fire breathing turtle/koopa/thing that is Boswer and the giant marshmallow with teeth that is King Boo. At least nothing sane from someone who had once thought these video games characters were not real like any other person from Earth, but that is irrelevant now. What is relevant is that you feel like screaming into a pillow because you agreed to come with Luigi and Mario to this hotel to relax and have a proper vacation unlike at Isle Delfino where you spent your first night in jail, how fun... Toad's driving was not helping you in any way as every turn he made was so sharp you nearly fell out of your seat at least five times and the paranoia had also decided to tag along with you today, like it typically does when something was obviously wrong like this trip.

It hurt knowing that something very, **very** bad was going to happen but you could not stop it till it was too late, at the very least Luigi, Mario, Princess Peach, and the Toads were happy about the drive. The road to the hotel was long and winding, with sharp turns and a dirt road. The scenery was nice, though. Very nice, the trees grew tall and proud with shiny green leaves and blooming flowers atop them, the grass was just as colorful and looked almost perfectly cut too. A single gold sign sat embedded in the ground at an angle, on it was a tall house-like shape, mostly likely the hotel in question, as we drove past. It was at the next particularly nasty sharp turn that you took another look at everyone on the bus. In the second row just on the left side of the driving Toad sat Mario and Peach, both seeming quite happy and unbothered with the horrible driving. Behind them were the other two Toads that joined the trip both looking very jolly and optimistic as always, one was even playing around with a baseball until they lost grip of it and it went rolling under the seat just behind you. And just behind you was none other than Luigi, passed out in his seat soring away without a single worry in the world. The bus suddenly jolted up, probably from a large rock in the road, and startled Luigi awake him shrieking in response. "You ok there buddy?" you asked the confused plumber, who blinked before sighing, "I'm fine, I'm fine." While shaking his head, he was fine before a silver, transparent dog suddenly ghosted out of the seat next to Luigi, and startled him even further. In the ghostly dog's mouth was a white letter, Luigi upon seeing it went to grab it but ended tugging it away from the playful puppy.

"Come on, puppy! Don't chew the letter!" Luigi huffed quietly as Polterpup finally released the letter. He seemed to be rereading it with a dreamy sigh and a faint smile on his face. 

"So, what do you think the hotel will be like Weegee?" You ask with a quirk of your brow. Luigi simply gave a sheepish smile and rubbed his neck, "Ah,... I don't really know to be honest but I am pretty happy that we're a-going.". His answer caused you to smile too, even if your hand instinctively reached beside you for a white, leather-bound book on the car seat.

You opened your mouth to say something until something from outside caught Luigi's eye and began to stare out the window, following his lead you did the same. Just a mile or so away was a bright and shimmering building as tall as can be. It was just as bright as you first saw it if not more, perfectly reflecting the light of the afternoon sun directly into your eyes. blinding you. Well that hurt, and now you can't really say this was not a dream and you were in fact going to probably meet your demise here. One sharp turn here, another hard left there, and why not slam on the brakes too while you're at it Toad; and we were at our destination. Mario and Peach were still talking among themselves and were having grand old' time while the three Toads gathered their luggage and left. Luigi stood from his seat and you were not that far behind, stopping a moment to ensure that your own suitcase and that book were on your person before getting off. Luigi was already in awe at the hotel's sheer size and grandiose façade, whispering 'Wowie Zowie' under his breath as he looked up. You could only squint at the building to prevent anymore lasting damage from your eyes at just how much the building sparkled.

"Is it too late to get back on the bus? I'll even let Toad drive again." you questioned, watching everyone and even Luigi beckon you from on top of the brief flight of stairs.

"Apparently..." was the answer as you raced up to the double doors and walking into the building, Luigi holding the door for you.

The grand lobby was just that, grand and honestly blinding. All of it was paved in colors of gold, and various shades of yellow. What had first drawn your attention to the room were the four hanging signs with Mario's, Luigi's, Peaches', and the Toads' faces on them; yours however was missing. You could only hope that means they were unprepared for your arrival to make your life easier but that was unlikely. The second thing that you focused on next was the staff itself, all of them wore the same half-lidded impassive look to them, googly eyes staring off into the abyss in different directions; and they had no ankles to speak of what-so-ever. At best they were all identical siblings, at worst they were dead. The only one different was the bellhop that stood behind the front desk. He was fidgeting pretty badly, tapping his gloved fingers together, whipping off his uniform sleeve, and just generally looking about in a nervous state. The worst was the mask, err, his 'face' being and asphyxiated purple color with a wide toothy grin, and it was by sheer dumb luck, or misfortune, that nobody besides yourself saw throw their disguises.

It took Peach, Mario, and Luigi a few minutes to join you at the front desk, all of them admiring the lobby. This left you standing awkwardly next to the steward who had noticed you as he seemed to froze in place, staring you down like a deer in headlights. Neither one of you moved or even blinked, if he could, as you both stared each other down. The tension only broke when you gave a shaky grin and wave, "H-Hello...".

That broke whatever force that was stopping the bellhop from doing anything, shaking his head once before bending backwards in a flourish, "A-ah!, Welcome, guests, to **The Last Resort**! A-are you read to check in, Miss?" he gave a nervous chuckle at the end of his question, echoing too much to be completely human.

"Yes, we would like to check in, Mister...?" "Steward!" he answered quickly and without hesitance. "Ok, Mister Steward...".

Steward's posture relaxed a little at that, and he nodded, subtly adjusting his mask on his face. "Madam Gravely will arrive at any second to greet you...". Before gesturing above him to the balcony above the check-in desk, where a tall, magenta skinned woman stood with a welcoming smile. Her voice was loud for everyone to hear.

"Guests! Welcome to **The Last Resort**! My name is Hellen Gravely, and I am the owner of this hotel." 

Hellen began to 'descend' down the staircase as she spoke again, "I am absolutely delighted that you decided to accept my invitation.". She only came to a stop until she stood towering over Luigi, "You all must be very tired. Come! Allow me to show you to your rooms." 

At that point you tuned Hellen out, instead deciding to watch and feel bad for Steward as he made his way around the front desk and to the trolley to put the bags and suitcases on. Sighing and whipping his brow when he lifted Luigi's bag onto the trolley, the maroon oversized jacket brushing the floor with every move he made. You felt a tug on your own sleeve and looked to see Luigi pulling you along after Hellen, sneezing up pink powder once or twice. "Come on, let's-a go.". The elevator was small for eight people in it, including polterpup who sat at Luigi's feet, the last you saw of the lobby as the doors closed was Steward turning his head to look into the elevation one last time. What you did not know, what you did know was the dread that sat silently in your gut coil and grip you tightly. You know you were not going to like this stay at all.

When the elevator stopped on the fifth floor everyone started piling out, Hellen began to gesture down the left hallway. "Mario's, Luigi's, and Peaches' rooms are down this hall." Hellen then gestures down the right hall, "We have even prepared rooms for _Moony_ , and you Toads as well.".

Everyone began to go their separate ways as the main trio left to find their rooms, you followed after the Toads with your room key in hand, the numbers '507' printed on the key tag. Wait a second, wasn't that the unfinished room with the folding bed? When you read your room, you could only pause a moment before taking a breath and open the door slowly in trepidation. Surprisingly the room was not the pigsty that you were expecting, sure the whole hotel was just one giant illusion but the room seemed fine enough and your bathroom door only had an 'out of service' sign on it so it could be much worse. The room was plain like the Toads' rooms, the only real eye catcher was your luggage but it only held a spare change of clothes and a flashlight, something you learned from Luigi. The real thing you wanted to focus on as the book you had kept on your person, making use of the chairs in the room to get comfortable before pulling out the book. 

The book in question was once white but is now a dusty cream color from age and use, the leather peeling from the corners of the hardback and in bold printed letters ' **Mirai** '. You open the book at the last place you left off and begin to read, however what was once the simple linear story of Luigi's Mansion 3 was now suddenly a jumbled mess of overlapping words and images. Well ok then, you hoped you could remember what happens next and if you could escape that King Marshmallow. The best thing to do would be to think of a plan of action for when King Boo comes, but the more you think about it the more tired you got and the harder it was to think. You immediately slapped yourself, "No. NO! This is why you went to bed early _Moony_! So you could stay up longer and be ready for what is going to happen tonight, there is no time for sleeping tonight, only running and panicking!" What was once a brightly lit room soon turned dark as the sun began to set, and with that the illusion would begin to wear off too, 

With no other choice you opened your door and began to creep your way to the elevator, stopping to listen to any noise you heard to help you with your escape. When you had made it passed the three Toads rooms you finally heard it, Princess Peaches' scream. You stopped at the corner next to the elevator and waited some more, and just as you expected the grand illusion began to fade, leaving behind a much darker more foreboding hallway that ten you had first gone down. The sound of the elevator opening sounded as light tapping made its way to the noise, which could only be Luigi. With a whooshing sound, Hellen's voice echoed in the elevator hall as she began to monologue to Luigi, it was forgettable to be honest; the main take away from it was that Luigi was the 'main guest' and a 'certain someone' wanted to meet him. King Boo's laughter and taunting voice boomed in the hall, eliciting a cry of shock from the green plumber. It took a lot to stay hidden enough for no one to notice and to see what was happening, but it was all coming together exactly how you first saw it, with Luigi running away in fear and King Boo giving chase. Hellen was watching the two with her back facing you and it gave you enough courage to try to sneak past, as what else would you be able to do? 

It went well, so well in fact you were standing in the still open elevation seconds away from hitting the Basement 1 button when a loud crash rang out along with the Boo's malice filled laughter and the hotel owner's cheers. A single ding rang from the elevator before shutting its doors, Hellen snapping her head towards the sound and she gasped and furrowed her brows. "How did-". Hellen was cut off as the floor beneath you started to move and the calming music that plays in the elevator started. 

... What just happened... 

Uh, Oh... Oh, No... 

Do you need to take Luigi's place now? Why? Why, why!? You don't know how to do this! You could barely remember what you eat for breakfast, how are you going to do this!! That panic you felt on the bus, yeah, it came back full force and you were ready to have a panic attack. Barking snapped you out of your panicked state and right in front of you, with his tongue hanging out, was Polterpup. 

"Polt!, Your ok, oh who's a good boy!?" you scratched the ghostly dog behind his ears as you spoke, the now nicknamed Polt leaning into your touch. "This should not be too bad right boy?" Polt gave another bark and began to trot out the elevator down the hall to the right, stopping only to see if you were following him. Giving chase to the dog you found yourself opening the door to the underground garage, it was empty save for the occasional rat and dust, and cobwebs were everywhere. There were only two visible cars, and one of them stood out with it's bright red color and vintage design. The hood of the car shuttered and moved wildly as if it was trying to grab your attention, when you got close enough to it Polt leapt out it, startling you. He sniffed at the tires before pointing to the hood with his tail with a bark. 

When you lifted the hood, it was your only line of defense, the Poltergust G-00... You were not ready for any of this at all.


	2. Chapter 1: Basement Troubles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Well, nothing went as planned. Luigi was caught in the hallway before he could escape and now you were forced to take his place. So much for a decent vacation.

Tonight you learned that navigating the poltergust was a whole lot harder than Luigi made it seem. The glorified vacuum cleaner was pretty light despite it's odd shape and buckled up easily enough. It was even adjustable, it took you a minute or two to get it just right and feel like it was not about to fall off your shoulders. The nozzle was comfortable to hold even to even yourself, someone who had never used a poltergust before, but that comfort was quickly replaced by confusion as you finally notice all the buttons and switches that were on the machine. There was the trigger, next to it was a switch labeled the colors blue and red, When you pulled the trigger the poltergust whirred to life and began to suck up the air in front of you, when you flipped the switch to blue, the poltergust started to push the air away from you. There were a few other buttons, one you were particularly excited about was the one that prepared the plunger head to be fired at unsuspecting ghosts. The last button that caught your attention was on the main body of the poltergust, located on the side of the tank, whenever you pressed it all the machine did was shutter with a ' _Cla-Clunk!_ ' sound. 

Polt, bless that good boy, was waiting patiently for you to get used to the vacuum on your back; Polt barked at you, sniffing at the ground before floating up to the first floor. "And... there he goes..." you mused with a smile, turning on your heel before immediately freezing up. That smile on your face, yeah, that smile is gone now. Across the room from you and with the same startled and ridged posture as yourself, was Steward. A silence hung around the both of you that was very reminiscent of your first encounter with the bellhop ghost. Like yourself, Steward was frozen in place with that creepy purple mask in his gloved hand and the incredibly long coat in the process of being removed. Surprisingly Steward was the first to move, shrieking and suddenly bolting towards cover; you meanwhile gave him a dubious look. " _HOW ARE YOU HERE!?_ " Steward screamed, not even hiding the fear in his voice. 

"Here as in this hotel, or here as in-" 

"Here!! On this floor!! You-!" 

"Should be stuck in a painting by an oversized cotton ball?..." 

There was a pause, before Steward peeked his head out of hiding, "Y-yes...". 

Now that he wasn't completely hiding you got to see what he really looked like; For starters he was blue, and the glow that came off him was a purple/magenta color, lastly his eyes and mouth were a light cyan color. Your finger resting on the poltergust's trigger, ready in case the spooked specter decided to attack. 

... 

"So... are you going to do something, or are we going to be here all night?", with the silence broken, Steward replied. 

"Aren't you a ghost catcher, miss?" 

"The only time I ever touch a vacuum is to clean my apartment and even then I am lazy and rarely touch it." 

You could barely see Steward's lip twitch as he floated out into the open. "Then why do you have... that?" 

"What would you do if you were stuck in a haunted hotel where all the ghosts want to drag you off to get turned into a mantle piece?" you retorted. 

"Fair point". 

A bark suddenly sounded in the garage, making you and Steward jump as Polt jumped out from underneath the floor next to you. Oh, right... You had to go to the lobby. You began to scoot towards the exit, "Look Steward, I don't want to fight you unless I really have to so I'ma just... leave..." before sprinting to the door. "Wait a second miss!-" he did not get to finish that sentence as you ran into the hallway towards the elevator. A locked door was to the right of the elevator, if your memory serves correctly then all the elevator buttons should be gone then.. Oh wait, does that mean you **have** to fight Steward? But you didn't- 

"Miss!" a scream bubbled in your throat as Steward appeared in the corner of your vision. "I was trying to ask, but how are you going to do that? Mistress Gravely had sent a notice that a ghost hunter escaped, how are you going to handle yourself against roughly five hundred ghosts?" Steward questioned. 

"What better way to learn than to dive head first into danger. And since when did that happen, it's only been like,-" you checked your watch, " -thirty minutes since then?". 

"Word travels fast in this hotel." Steward answered. Huh, the more you know. 

With a shrug you unlocked the door with a flash of light and entered the stairwell, leaving Steward behind. The short flight of stairs lead to a side door that opened into the grand lobby, it was a lot darker and very eerie looking once the illusion faded away. The only thing you can hear besides your footsteps was a buzzing sound, the closer you got to the main entrance the louder the buzzing got until you saw what was causing that buzzing. Two small, blue ghosts were boarding up the entrance with power tools, other objects like wrenches, tool boxes, nails, etc. were littered around their work area. By this time the two ghosts, you shall now start to internally refer to them as goobs, had finished their task and were now focused on Polt who was butt scooting on the tile. One of the goobs shooed Polt away, first tossing their power drill to the other goob, before chasing Polt. The second goob tossed both drills to the side, dusting their hands before flying in front of you with a mischievous laugh. The ensuing fight was hectic, the first goob made it hard to get your footing but once you got the hang of it the ghost stood little chance. The second half of the fight was much harder, the two ghosts would stay apart from one another and when you did catch one the other would sucker punch you, at the very least Polt was there to help you. When the coast was clear you grinned and watch Polterpup walk up the stairs and watch you from the balcony. A shiny, gold key was behind the reception desk and as you were about to get behind the counter the key began to float. That can't be good. 

When the ghost reviled themselves' it was non other than Steward, he was mulling over the key for a second before turning to you. 

"I have a deal for you." He began, raising the key higher. 

"I will help you, if you can help me." That one short sentence set multiple red flags for you, your grip on the poltergust's nozzle getting tighter as Steward noticed. 

"Look, I just want you to release all the ghosts that you catch after all this mess is over." 

"I beg your pardon?" 

"You even said it yourself, you did not want to fight unless you have to. And asking you to just **not** protect yourself won't happen so... This is a nice little compromise, right Miss?" 

"But wouldn't Hellen be mad at you if you help me?" 

"Oh, absolutely! But I would rather deal with Mistress Gravely than King Boo any day, honestly" Steward twirled the key once before sticking his free hand out to you, "So do we have a deal Miss?". 

Well this is unexpected. On one hand, Steward could help you find your friends faster and maybe you won't have to fight so many ghosts. But on the other, if you don't, your not to sure what Steward might do since if he were to attack as you are not in the garage. Decisions, decisions. You were not good at making decisions. Who knew a nervous wreck could be so scary? 

"Alright, I'll bite. Deal." you shook his hand and the tension between the both of you lesson. Steward, with a closed-eyed smile handed you the key. "Thank you for your patronage, miss.". 

You sighed, taking the key, "Well if we are working together then you can just call me _Moony_.". 

"Alright Miss _Moony_." 

Son-of-a... you know what, fine. That's fine. You began to make your way up the steep staircase, Steward close behind seeming to be very pleased with himself. The both of you making it to the double doors that lead further into the hotel, with key you unlocked the doors and pushed them both open revealing the next room. At least you won't be alone in your endeavor now... You're not to sure how to feel about this, actually.....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh boy, chapter 2! The best part of writing this is that I get to replay the game again. Besides that, I would like to apologize as my updating schedule might/will be a mess so... sorry. And in case if anyone was wondering why Steward is acting different here is my reasoning. While yes I do see him as the nervous, suitcase throwing bellhop we know and appreciate, I can see him being pretty confident and kind of sarcastic if he were to have the advantage. Like how he would mockingly bow at Luigi when he pulls free from the poltergust in game. Also words suck, and so does English.


	3. Chapter 2; Egad! It's him.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Who would have thought that talking things through could help you avoid physical altercations;... too bad it also leads to you into making an agreement with a bellhop who might of just bit off more than he could chew.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I should have made this in the first chapter but I am very sorry if the characters seem out of character, especially Steward. He's hard to write, if I do mess up please let me know....

When you had opened the double doors you were greeted to what looked like a miniature ballroom. If the fancy chandler, neatly stacked tables and chairs, and the lavish gold décor that lined the walls were anything to go by. At the far end of the ballroom, was a single large sepia-toned painting of a small, and clearly screaming, old man. Well you guess that makes sense as to why E. Gadd was here, after all he was a ghost specialist and had personally locked King Boo, what like three times now?, in a painting. Polt was sitting just under E. Gadd's portrait, whining and pawing at the frame, only to pause and bark at you and Steward as you both entered the room. Speaking of Steward, he was staring at the painting brows furrowing as he gazed at the portrait. "Well that was easier than expected." you said, making your way across the room to stand in front of the painting. 

"Are you friends with a painting, Miss?" Steward questioned, turning his head to direct his attention to you. 

"I'm friends with the man _Inside_ the painting. Now how do we get him out of there?" you mused looking at the picture and itching the back of your neck. 

"Do you not know how?" 

"We need a blacklight, the only issue with that is that this poltergust does not have one. I should know, the first thing I did was press all the buttons." 

The both of you went silent as you tried to think of the next course of action, Polt was by your feet and if it was possible, gave you a cheeky smile, pointing to the door on the left side of the room. You had seen the door when you first walked past it but you paid it no mind when you were instead focused on E. Gadd. You shifted your eyes between the door and Steward, it was not that you distrusted the ghost but you were still put off at the deal the both of you had made. When you had first read of this adventure you were more than ready for what was ahead of you, now however things were very different. If anything, the companion you were prepared to adventure with was Luigi as he was **Supposed** to have escaped with you. To be frank, you were tempted to just pull out **Miraia** see if the stupid thing had decided to pick with a story route and stick with it or not because you hated not knowing what was going to happen. You would much rather know something that might be wrong than not at all. For now you would just put those thoughts to the side, you exited the ballroom through the other doors and found yourself in another hallway. 

This one was mostly bare, save for a few potted plants, a trashcan or two, and a few signs for the employees. At the end of the short hall before it turned right was a metal door labeled with a large sign with a silhouette of two large boxes on it.. That seemed like a good place to start. When you had tried to open it however you could only barely jimmy the door handle before realizing it was looking. Deciding to look more in this room you turned right. There were two more doors down the hall, one at the very end and another just a little bit ways from you. The second door had another sign, only this one had what looked like a perfume bottle on it. You did not mind exploring, if anything it lightened the mood for you and you were definitely not complaining if you could come out of these rooms just a little bit richer. Steward did not seem to care when you grabbed those few coins off to the side of the stairs before ballroom then, and if it did bothered him you hoped he would tell you. Opening the door showed a dressing room, hanging on hangers and resting on the counters were the costumes that the goobs were wearing earlier today. It was actually a fairly nice looking room with large mirrors, plenty of counter space and drawers, even a few couches. There was nothing too notable in the drawers beside a few coins and bills that you took, and there was nothing on the counters either. Thinking that it would be funny you picked up one of the many masks on the counter, it had the same googly eyes and lax expression as all the rest, putting it to your face you recoiled almost immediately. How could anyone possibly see that thing!? The answer was they couldn't, you put that thing back where it came from. Scrounging around the room a little more you soon found the key hiding behind a painting in the wall. With your spoils you made your way to the exit only stop when you heard voices behind it. 

"What are you two doing?" it was muffled, but you were sure the voice belonged to Steward. There was a reply but it was in a language you did not understand. 

"No, I was not given that update." Another reply. 

"Alright. You two go and continue putting those posters up. I'll keep watch over here, understood?" One last reply before silence, you were actually kind of surprised Steward could lie like that, he did not seem like the type who would. 

You cracked the door open, seeing that the only one in the hall was Steward. Steward sighed heavily, his shoulders slumped and he looked like he was shaking; probably now realizing just how deep he was in this mess. You felt bad for the poor guy, he was trying to help you and you just kind of just... left him behind... Now you feel even more bad about that, but you can't undo what you did so the best thing is to just try to make up for it. After all, he is basically giving up his job to help you stop King Boo. "You ok there Steward?" you asked as you fully exited the dressing room. Steward flinched at the sudden question, turning to give you a shaky smile that did not make you feel better. 

"N-never better, Miss! I had saw you leave the room and followed, if you had needed to enter the storage room you could have just asked me, m-miss..." 

"I know, but thank you for ahh... that just now..." you spoke, looking anywhere but at Steward. 

"Not a p-problem, Miss. Now let's-" 

"If you don't want to help that's fine, you know..." You interrupted, if you had to deal with Hellen and King Boo by yourself, you were fine with that but you did not want to drag anyone else with you if they did not want to deal with it. 

Steward paused at that moment, actually beginning to think over your statement a bit. His eyes darted nervously as he drummed his fingers together and sighed. Steward's voice was a lot softer and more tense than before. "N-no... No. I made my choice. I _want_ to help you Miss. I really do, but... I-I just guess I had not really understood what was happening..." 

A pregnant pause lingered in the air before you spoke, " To be completely honest, I don't really understand what is happening either, so you're not alone there. And besides, it's not like you're just here to help me; I am here to help you with whatever you need,-" You stuck your hand out to him, "After all, we are partners. Right?". 

Steward stared at your hand for a second before grabbing it with a timid smile, "Yeah... Partners." 

The heavy atmosphere between the two of you lightened dramatically as the two of you reached an understanding and mutual agreement. The silence that followed was a welcomed one as both yourself and Steward unlocked and entered the storage room. Polt trotting his way to greet the both of you and guiding your attention to a safe imbedded into the wall. You made your way past dusty boxes, tables and other cloth covered objects to the safe and, upon noticing the green light sensor, activated the strobulb. With a loud ' _CLICK_ the safe swung open showing a single flashlight head and a few neat piles of dollar bills. A grin made its way to your face as you pieced together just what the flashlight head was and just how lucky it was that it happened to be here. "ALRIGHT, here we go!!" you cry as you attach the new addition to the poltergust and flipped a switch. In the corner of your eyes you see Polt walk past you and leapt onto another large sepia-toned painting, however unlike the one in the ballroom this one had a large pile of coins in it. Shining your new darklight on the painting, you and Steward watched with awe as the painting rippled and swayed and suddenly spit out the two dimensional coins back into this plane of existence. Collecting the coins, you turned to Steward. 

"Let's go free E. Gadd." 

Steward straightened himself before giving a curt nod and smile, "Right.". 

The two of you making haste to the ballroom, now armed with an important tool to help you with this adventure. Since the start of this adventure, you glanced at Steward and Polt, maybe you **could** do this....


	4. Chapter 3; Homebase

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Armed with your new and improved darklight flashlight, trademark still pending, it's time to go back to the basement and face the second scariest thing in this hotel... Cleaning. And boos...

Using the darklight will probably be the most satisfying thing to watch, the canvas rippling and swaying as the darklight forces the cursed painting to cough up whatever it had trapped in it's beige frame. It lasted only a couple seconds before the painting finally gave up, the short professor slowly leaving the painting, before immediately falling flat on this face with a loud **THUD**. You and Polt flinched at the sound, that had to have hurt. Steward was already at Gadd's side, offering to help him up but simply got waved off by the professor. You and Polt stood by Steward, who looked like he was about to break in a cold sweat by the way, as E. Gadd pushed himself off the ground and readjusted his oversized glasses. It took E. Gadd a second or two just who was in the room with him before smiling and clapping his hands together with glee, 

"Ah-ha! If it isn't Luigi's friend, _Sunny_!-" 

"It's _Moony_..." 

E. Gadd did not miss a beat at your interruption, "You were among one of the last people I expect to see here!" Gadd's posture hunkered down as he spoke, nervousness now taking hold, noticing how Gadd would flicker his attention from you to Steward. Steward also seemed to be uncomfortable in the professor's presence as the professor was uncomfortable with his. 

"Okay! Well, funny story..." you started, but similarly to Steward, was silenced by the old scientist. 

"Hold that thought-, now is not the time for that. What matters is that you will do nicely!" You knew what was coming... 

"Come on, _Sunny_. Get me out of here now! This-" And there it is. There's the E. Gadd you know and... well know. You took a deep breath and rubbed the bridge of your nose, a headache now deciding it's a great time to inconvenience you. 

"Again, it's _Moony_ , and yes I would love to leave this hotel as much as you but there are more pressing matters to deal with than running away." you took that moment to look E. Gadd in the eyes, "Like saving my friends..." As bad as you felt being rude to Professor Gadd, you were in a bit of a time crunch at the moment and did not feel like dealing with the elderly professor ramble like back in Evershade Valley. 

"What was that, your friends? Do you mean that Luigi...?" 

" Yeah, everyone is here and I can't just leave them." 

" You can't..." the professor asked dejectedly, which you answered with a quick 'no'. Gadd groaned, muttering under his breath as he threw his head towards the ceiling, thinking. You took this short break in the conversation to see that Steward had distanced himself from the professor, hiding behind you and peeking over your shoulder. How you failed to notice him doing that was beyond you but ignored it for now when E. Gadd snapped his fingers and exclaimed quite loudly, "OK! I am not thrilled about it, but I, Professor Elvin Gadd, have an idea!" 

"But first things first, we need to get to my car. Can you take me there _Sunny_?" your eye twitch a little, but you agreed none-the-less. Gadd to this moment to realize what you were wearing on your back, "Hey. The Poltergust G-00 you're wearing... did you take that out of my car?" 

It was now your turn to start sweating, "Yeah.. Let's just head to the garage. Let's go, guys!" you answered, looking at Steward for a second and attempted to pat the nervous ghost arm before heading to the grand lobby. With Polt at your heels and E. Gadd and Steward not too far behind, you all made your way to the second floor elevator. Taking the time to rip one of the many wanted posters of your face off the wall to look at it, how they manage to mass produce a detailed wanted poster in such little time was, while impressive certainly, was also freighting... At the very least it was a decent picture of you. As you rounded the corner you notice a trash can on its side in front of the call button, a lazy attempt to stop you. But a respected attempt regardless, you took this as an opportunity to properly try out the burst feature on the poltergust: and boy was it a **blast**! Literally, by the time you realized how high it propelled you into the air you were on the floor in pain from landing on the poltergust itself. You can hear E. Gadd fussing about how you could have damaged the vacuum as Steward offered his hand to pick you up. 

"Are you alright Miss _Moony_?" 

"I. Am not. Doing that. Again." you huffed as you stretched your back, hearing a few loud popping coming from your spine. Yeah, you'll just stick to kicking objects out of the way. Taking no care as you slammed the call button and waited for the elevator to come to this floor. Being stuck hearing E. Gadd scold you while adjusting and looking over the poltergust on your back as the two ghosts in your part look at you both in confusion. As the elevator opened you flew into the tiny box lest you have to deal with E. Gadd nagging your other ear off for being inept at using the poltergust. Well _sorry_! It's not like you had the chance to practice using it before since the first two times you were either stuck in a painting or running for your life. Looking at the floor select panel next to the doors you were correct in assuming that Hellen had removed all the floor buttons, leaving you with only the B1 still in place. When E. Gadd, Steward, and Polt entered the elevator, it began to shutter before descending when you pressed the only button available. The ride down was short but it gave you the time you needed to breathe and pull your thoughts together for a second, and catch up on some light reading. Reaching into your jacket, you pulled out your handy, dandy book and began flipping to a page you had dog-eared earlier tonight. 

Alright! So, from what you can tell the storyline is, mostly, still on track. By now Luigi would have saved Professor Gadd and would have been heading to the underground garage too. By then he would have had his second encounter with Steward and won over the two elevator buttons he has. You paused for a moment, looking over your shoulder to see Steward looking quite puzzled at the book in your hands; only to flush a dark color when he was caught staring. Sputtering apologies until you waved it off and explained to the anxious bellhop that it was fine. The whole elevator abruptly came to a stop, shaking everyone in the compacted room as the doors opened. Stuffing the little white book back into your pocket you lead the way to the garage, Polt having gone through the wall and E. Gadd shuffling just behind you. Steward lagging behind for a few moments before floating through the wall like the ghostly canine did. It was just you and E. Gadd now and you both had to take the long way to the garage, pausing only when a painting dropped from its place on the wall startling you and causing Gadd to chuckle at your skittishness. "You know it's rude to laugh at the person who quite literally freed you of your artistic prison right?" you questioned the professor, turning to look at the shorter man. 

E. Gadd sort of just, coughed into his fist and nervously smiled, "A-ah, that's right.." he coughed once more before looking at you with a more serious expression on his face. "But I would like to know youngster, why is that ghost with you? I remember him checking me into this hotel." 

Oh boy, here we go. "Yeah that might have been Steward but it's fine Gadd, trust me." E. Gadd just stood there and frowned at that, waiting for your elaboration. 

"It's fine Gadd. Actually Steward has been nothing but helpful since he started helping me, he's a bit jumpy, yeah, but he has been very-... Hang on, why do I need to explain myself to you? You of all people should know not all ghosts are bad." 

"Now I never said anything about not trusting the boy but I just mean you should not let your guard down here. You'll never know what might happen." 

"That's true, but I already know that professor. I already had my first fight with the undead, and I've helped Mario and Luigi with Bowser every other week. You can't really keep your guard down in the Mushroom Kingdom without getting kidnapped really." You chuckled a little at the end of your last sentence but it was true. Where were several occasions where Bowser or one of his children would crash into your roof to prevent you from helping the two brothers. That only came to a stop after repeatedly pelting them with either water balloons filled with an unholy mixture of water, vinegar and salt, or honey and vinegar then watching them squirm. To this day Bowser still flitches whenever you hold a small balloon near him. 

E. Gadd simply nodded, sighing as the two of you continued to the garage. When you finally got there you were greeted with the sight of Steward and Polt moving luggage onto a trolley, his coat and mask hanging neatly on it as well. Steward paused, only to turn and nod at the both of you before returning to work. E. Gadd did not seem to be bothered by it as he raced off to his car, Polt chasing after him and yipping happily. Not wanting to stand there and be useless, you instead began to help Steward load the suitcases and move them to a less inconvenient spot. Along the way you decided to vacuum up the rather large piles of trash that littered all across the underground garage, it was very motivating to keep cleaning as unearth cash and solid gold bars from the pills of junk. While you were working you got this sudden feeling of dread grip your body, as the feeling of something looming over you. That feeling only spiked as something cold raked up your body, freezing and trying to process just what the heck just happened... 

"Did something just _licked_ me?" you questioned dumbly, your question answered by the iconic chackling of a boo. You breathed in, and then sighed loudly. There were a lot of things you were willing to deal with tonight, cursed paintings, getting decked across the face by a baguette, getting the stuffing beaten out of you by the boss ghosts on each floor. The one thing, however, you were not willing to put up with are the boos. If they think messing with you was funny then that will be the last thing they do! Granted there were **more** things you did not want to deal with but the boos were pretty high up on that list, especially after _that_! 

Your angry inner-monologue was cut short as you felt yourself get softly pushed by Steward towards E. Gadd who was, apparently, calling you while he fiddled with what honestly looked like a metal food strainer in his hands. For the time being you'll just put a pin to that thought process for later... 

... 

Does not mean you weren't any less mad at that boo though.


	5. Chapter 4; Room-Service Rumble

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After setting up the lab Gadd decides to show you how thankful he is to you for rescuing him. So grateful, in fact, that he promotes you from being his savior, to his errand boy. His first, and last, errand sends you and your rag-tag team back to square one; The Fifth Floor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hmmmmm, that moment when you don't know what to write so you make your life harder by making the chapter even longer.... Why is it that Chambrea is so hard for me to write about!? WHY!? Sorry this chapter took so long, but I could NOT think of anything for Chambrea.... Also I feel like I might be making E. Gadd too mean and just glossing over more stuff than I really should but... I mean I'm not that wrong... Dude's more focused on his yu-gi-ho collection than Luigi's sanity, like, really? Can't spend five minutes on your 'apprentice's' mental state? Besides, most of what he says is tutorial stuff and having E. Gadd say stuff like 'touch-pad' or 'A button' out of nowhere is dumb. If you have any question about the MC then let me know, I don't mind answering.

Despite what you felt, and your feeling of not wanting to encourage E. Gadds' bad behavior; you will admit, he is very good at his job. Watching in wonder as the small 'food strainer' grew and expanded to an incredible size as Gadd pushes you a little further back from his machine. Now if only the green light it was spewing out didn't burn your eyes... Steward, who had more common sense than you apparently, used you as a shield to prevent the light from damaging his light sensitive eyes. The bright light did not stop him from being any less impressed however. By the time the machine stopped glowing it was massive, dwarfing everyone's height and nearly reaching the ceiling of the garage. At least, before a pair of satellites popped out the roof and broke some of the ceiling causing you to flinch. Yikes! You knew you would be costing the hotel thousands with property damage but you weren't going to break the every foundation the hotel is built on!! Hopefully, that is... 

E. Gadd was very happy when the machine was done, quickly opening the door and briefly pointing inside, "Come on now _Sunny_! There's not a moment left to lose!" before shuffling inside. Polt was sitting obediently besides the door staring at both you and Steward expectantly. You both just stood there a moment before you clapped your hands and rocked on the back of your heels, looking at Steward. " Welp! You heard the old man, let's go.". 

"It is fine, I'll just stay here. It looks like Mister Gadd just wants to talk with you." 

While you didn't really want to be alone again with E. Gadd lest you start an argument with him, you respected Steward's hesitance. The poor guy did not seem comfortable around the professor and you already know how 'eccentric' E. Gadd can be most of the time. "Alright. I'll be back in a few minutes.". 

Steward shook his head and his hands wildly, "No, no. You don't have to rush for me! I can wait." 

Well you weren't just rushing for him, you are also rushing to preserve for patience too... You only nod and then entered the makeshift lab; it was a lot big once you got inside actually. E. Gadd was tinkering with a large, red rolling chair when the door finally shut behind you. The professor then plopped into the seat and rolled closer to you with a laugh, "Welcome to the Lab! Another brilliant invention of mine- a portable laboratory! It's sturdy, safe, and air conditioned!" Knock on wood- "I knew I'd need this one day. Good thing I brought it along with me, right?" Yes. Very convenient, you nodded none-the-less. 

"Yes, well. I can assume you are here because you were tricked too?" 

"You are right with that assumption. To put a long story short, I was tricked here because I was told that the owner of this hotel had a collection of ghosts gathered from around the world! No self-respecting ghost researcher would pass such an appealing offer, obviously! When I arrived they captured me and took my precious ghost collection! Ugh! That collection included ghosts from those other adventures, even King Boo!! He was my favorite...-" how long is this short story? 

"Excuse me, but there are two very important problems on my hands. Those include King Boo, and rescuing my friends." 

E. Gadd winced, "King Boo? Did they release him again!?" 

"Yep." popping the 'p' as you let your mind wander. Pointedly ignoring the professors worried rambling, even now you can still vividly remember King Boo's laughter as he captured Luigi. 

" _Sunny_! You're our only hope! Against all odds, without any hesitation and at any cost; get my ghost collection back!-" 

"And my friends. Remember?" 

E. Gadd nodded his head dismissively before adding, "And speaking of ghost collections, why don't you give me all the ghosts you captured so far!" 

"Ok! About that, we are going to have to have a talk!" E. Gadd looked at you confused, " You can't keep this ghost collection. At least, not most of it." 

"Why not?" 

"Because I agreed to free most of the ghosts I capture after this whole ordeal is over, and I am not backing out of that promise." 

"But-" 

"No 'buts'. I won't break that promise, besides it's all situational. For all I know these ghosts could be fighting me against their will and so don't deserve to be trapped in one of your ghost paintings. Being trapped in a painting is not fun for me, so I doubt it's fun for the ghosts either." 

Your bickering lasted a few minutes long with the professor, trying to explain to him that; No he can't keep them, and that; Yes, you are serious about keeping that promise. When you both reached a compromise, you walked over to a large yellow tank and 'deposited' all the ghosts. While you have done that you can hear E. Gadd taps away at a keyboard behind him, the chair he is on creaking as he turns once again to face you. All you did was stare at him, waiting. 

"What? Is there something that I'm-... Oh. Oh! That's right, saving your friends! I completely and totally forgot. Give me a second, I'll give you something to help you out...." Gadd rummaged through his pockets before pulling out a virtual boy. "I call it... the Virtual Boo! VB for short." You took the communication device as E. Gadd kept talking. Something about 'red in rage' and 'flying off the shelves!'. "Oh, and one last thing-" he shoved a small red contraption into your hands, "Can you install this elevator tracker inside the elevator for me, OK?" You were already heading in that direction so why not? "Oh! And one last thing-" you brought your attention back to the professor, "... Nevermind. I forgot what I was going to say." E. Gadd didn't have anything else to add, saying he'll explain later. Where was nothing else left for you in here and beside you did not want to keep Steward and Polt waiting any longer than they already had. But you were curious about what E. Gadd was going to add. 

Polt was right besides the door like when you first entered, and yipped happily before diving head first into the floor. Steward must have heard you as he poked his head out from behind the column like he did in your second meeting, probably hiding from the security camera right outside the lab's door. "Sorry it took so long. Let's head to the elevator okay?" you said, gesturing with your thumb at the exit. "It's fine. Lead the way Miss _Moony_." Steward replied. The short walk from the garage and the elevator was accompanied by a comforting silence between the both of you before you remembered something important about the elevator. Or lack thereof. 

"Hey Steward do you have any of those elevator buttons on you?" 

"Huh?" Steward looked at you for a moment before his face lit up in realization. "Oh, you mean these right?" From one of the pockets on his uniform, he pulled out two buttons; they seemed to be glowing just as much as he was in the dim lighting. "Mistress' cat gave me these shortly before I ran into you. I was wondering why they were trying rip my coat..." He drops both buttons in your awaiting hand with a smile, "There you go". The rest of the walk was short, pausing only to eradicate some poor spiders out of existence and free a rather large, and shiny gem from out of cursed painting. Opening the elevator you pulled out one of the buttons and watched as it wiggled out of your grasp and screwed itself back into its place, the other not too far behind giving you access to both floor 1 and 5 again. Lastly, you also pulled out the elevator tracker and turned to Steward, "Watch yourself." you warned as once you sat the machine down it began to glow a green color. While not as bright as the portable lab was, it still would not be fun to watch as a light sensitive specter. 

As the machine whirred to life both screens turned on, the smaller one cutting into a feed of Professor E. Gadd as static poured out of the tiny speakers. "Hello _Sunny_! It seems like the installation was a success! As you can see, this device extracts map data about the floors then displays it on the monitor! Isn't that great? And as an add feature, this device links with the Virtual Boo!" 

Steward turned to you with furrowed brows, "Does he always call you by ; _Sunny_ '?". 

"Yeah, there's no point in trying to correct him anymore... At least it's... kinda close to _Moony_ , right?" you questioned as Steward nodded as confirmation. 

You turned to look at E. Gadd, "If that's everything, we're heading to the fifth floor to look for elevator buttons." E. Gadd stopped you right before you pressed said button, "Wait there is one more thing I need you to do. Can you test the communication hotline on the Virtual Boo for me? I want to make sure that it is up and running." You and Steward looked at one another before you shrugged and pulled the virtual boy out of your pocket and turned it on. Immediately you can hear E. Gadd buzz in and start shouting. 

"Testing... Testing... One, Two, Three... This Is E. Gadd, Resident Genius! Am I Coming In Clear? Fantastic! The BV's System Is Working Perfectly, This Means You Can-" Holy mother of Aphrodite! OW!!! 

"Excuse me, Professor E. Gadd, your shouting..." Steward commented, wringing his hands together the longer E. Gadd stared at him. 

"What? Oh, Give Me A Moment To Fix, ThIs-, and there! Is that better?" Your ears are still ringing... "Great! Testing my is fun, but we should get back to work. And speaking of work... I have a job for the both of you! Since you both are going to the fifth floor, can you stop by my room and bring me a briefcase from there for me?" Just nodded, trying and failing to get the ringing in your ears to stop. "Fantastic! My room number is... Oh blast, what was it? Eh, you both got a map. You'll figure it out! Good luck, _Sunny_! Do come back alive! Heh heh heh!" Before ending the call. 

Steward glanced at you, worried. "Are you alright?" he questioned. 

"WhAt!? I can't hear over the ringing!" 

"And now your shouting." 

"What? Oh, sorry. I'll be fine, let's just head to the fifth floor and get whatever it was he needed..." You finally press the fifth floor button, the elevator jostled before it began to rise. You both stood in there waiting for the elevator to reach its destination, you were fiddling with the poltergust when Steward spoke up. 

"I have been meaning to ask, but what was that book I saw you earlier with? I've never seen one like it before." Book? What book-oh! That book! 

"It's just a journal, really. I don't have the best memory so I write everything down in it. Does not stop the bloody thing from doing what it pleases though..." 

"It has a choice?" 

"Yes. Once I made it mad, and I woke up with it having eaten all of the food I had in the fridge." 

"Does it speak?" 

"N-.... I actually have no clue if it does? If it does I would probably be deaf to be honest." 

The elevator suddenly jolted as the doors ' **DING** ' opened, cutting your conversation short. You peeked out the elevator before exiting into the hall, it was just as dark as it was before only with the addition of your face being plastered all over the walls. You only managed to take a few steps away from the elevator before the VB started to ring, an all too familiar song playing as it's ringtone. You answered,"Yes?" 

"Ah, _Sunny_. I just remembered something important I neglected to mention, I had unstuck the Suction Shot on your Poltergust G-00 earlier on the elevator. It should be up and running, it will work as a weapon and tool for your adventures! Fire it at anything but remember that it will only stick to smooth, flat surfaces; and even better, you can pull the rope and slam objects around with it! You should start shooting it at things right away! Practice makes perfect, after all!" 

"Alright! Thanks Gadd!" you said. "Oh, and don't forget my briefcas-" the call ended, pocketing the VB, you turned to look at Steward who was.... Where was he? You looked around, spinning in a circle as you did, where did he go? 

"Miss _Moony_!" Steward popped his head from around the corner, causing you to shriek in fright. 

"Sorry. But I believe I remember what room I gave Professor Gadd! Room 508, I think..." 

You smiled at Steward and thanked him, before turning your attention to the two roadblocks in your path. They were just suitcase, albeit rather large ones, you would have just pushed them to the side but.... You really wanted to use the suction shot, besides you already were going to have to destroy somethings in the hotel anyway. It would not hurt to tack a couple more things to that every growing list, right? Taking aim you fired one of the suitcases, fired the plunger head at it, then gave a tug. Sending the object and its contents crashing to the floor, completely shattering them. You wasted no time in crushing the other suitcase, too. With the path cleared, and in pieces behind you, you and Steward went further down the hallway. Watching as a cart filled with cleaning supplies rolled back an inch before zooming off down the hall, sending rolls of towels flying and rolling at your feet. In the distance you can hear a goob snicker and laugh at you. Steward began to pick up the rolls of paper, most likely out of habit, as you marched to your destination. You looked over your shoulder to see Steward look at you, then at the rolls, then back at you before tossing them over his own shoulder to catch up with you. You shot a metal ball at a statue and pocketed the jewel it was holding in its mouth when Steward was back at your side. When you got closer to that cart from before, three goobs clad in maids outfits and dusters popped out of it. Will more like exploded it, sending the rest of the cleaning supplies flying, some even hitting you and Steward in the face. The goobs were looking at Steward in confusion and that was all they were going to get, as you blinded one of them and sucked them into the vacuum. They all three were dealt with, you checked on Steward, he was a little shaken but kept insisting he was fine when it clearly was not true. 

"I'm fine, I swear!" 

"Steward, if you want I can get the briefcase and you can hang out by the elevator because I know I will be catching more ghosts than just them." 

"No, it's fine. I'm fine. We'll do this together." It sounded more like he was psyching himself up than reassuring you... 

You were both standing in front of room 508, Steward was muttering to himself and you were taking deep breaths to calm your nerves. Stepping closer you cracked the door open to peek inside and saw something that made your heart drop. There was a maid already in there... and she was holding E. Gadd's case....


End file.
